Goddess Kaleidoscope

This event led to the new emperor's descent into darkness. His attack on the Kingdom of Duran was driven not only by fulfilling the people's dying wish but also by personal vendettas for revenge against his wife and daughter.

Bourne intended to keep this evil deed buried forever, but unexpectedly he met Romian, who had survived by chance, at Ludd's place and learned that she had become Ludd's apprentice.

Her master was clearly a protective person, threatening Bourne with the head of Canary III to tell the truth, leaving Bourne with no choice but to compromise.

Having told the truth, Byrne pleaded with Rudd to show mercy, saying that Canary III was truly unaware of the situation and that he was willing to take full responsibility for all the mistakes. He told Rudd to do as he pleased, as this was all a debt he had incurred.

After listening to Bourne's story, Ludd remained expressionless, seemingly without any emotional fluctuation. He could indeed understand the mindset of these so-called "loyal ministers" living in a feudal dynasty, but that did not mean that Ludd, a modern person, had to agree with it.

Do you agree with the idea of ​​secretly killing someone's wife and children behind their husband's back, and then expecting them to be grateful to you?

Moreover, Lud, who had once peered into Romian's dream, knew that the assassins sent by the Chancellor were not only hunting down Leona and her daughter, but they also massacred the entire village where the mother and daughter lived in seclusion.

Ludger investigated that village; it originally had over two hundred people, but assassins disguised as bandits massacred the entire village and burned it to the ground. You, Bourne, feel you were forced into this situation, but what did those innocent villagers, who knew nothing, do wrong? Just to eliminate any future threats?

"If what you say is true, then I can give up your emperor's head. But... your prime minister must pay the price for his actions."

"Chancellor Goethe was not a bad person, he was just..."

"I think he deserves to die, that's enough."

Luther calmly interrupted Byrne's explanation; he was now somewhat tired of continuing to talk to this seemingly young but suffocatingly corrupt and rotten servant.

No wonder the dwarves always complain about the elves, saying they're good for nothing except for their looks and magical talent. The high elves of the Tranquil Forest are all inflexible and stubborn. The dark elves who escaped have become a little more humane after being "corrupted," but they still have a biased side.

There is also a proverb among humans that those who learn from elves can become noble sages, but one should never allow oneself to become an elf.

To put it simply, it's a matter of degree.

After a moment's thought, Luther summoned Hume and instructed her to keep an eye on Byrne for a while and not let him go.

Bourne was slightly surprised to see a fellow member of his race working for Ludwig, but he quickly realized that something was off about the person, who seemed to be the same as the black-haired nun from before.

Hume glanced at the two artifacts on this woman's body, curled his lip in displeasure, and with a light wave of his hand, the two items were transferred to her body out of thin air. This greatly surprised Byrne, because most artifacts have a certain degree of spirituality and can recognize their masters.

He had possessed these two divine artifacts of the Thief God for over a hundred years, and they had always been by his side without ever leaving him. Yet this woman simply took them away with a wave of her hand. She was practically a minotaur in front of him!

However, Bourne did not know that Hume was actually the real aggrieved party.

Having taken away Bourne's artifact, Hume released the restraints on him and then coldly commanded.

"Come with me. You'd better not think you can run, or you might never have the chance to walk again."

After Bourne was taken away, Ludwig realized that the most pressing issue he had to address was how to explain things to Romian.

It wouldn't be appropriate to tell the truth directly, after all, Bourne was one of the people she trusted most and still considered him her savior. If Ludd told him the truth directly, that Bourne was actually in cahoots with the killer who murdered her mother, he was afraid she wouldn't be able to accept it.

As for the idea of ​​reuniting Romian and Canary III as father and daughter to persuade them to withdraw their troops, even setting aside the feasibility of such a plan, Rudd couldn't even get past his own conscience.

Despite how much Lude, this scoundrel of a master, often deceives his apprentices and exploits their labor, he would never actually use them for a transaction. Moreover, recognizing the emperor might not be a good thing.

After much deliberation, Lu De decided to personally go and meet her biological father as Romian's master.

Back at the Imperial camp, King Canary III was still waiting for Bourne. His order to Bourne was to "invite" Master Ludl over, which, in his understanding, should not be a difficult task for Bourne, who possessed top-tier martial arts skills and carried two stealth artifacts.

As for Narud's strength...

"Heh! Even if the head of a second-rate local sect has the name of a saint and is chosen by God, the power of a priest comes from the god he worships. How could he be stronger than the God of War? In my opinion, this Lude's strength is at most about the same as the bishop of my family's diocese."

Inside the emperor's tent, a man in a purple bishop's robe spoke eloquently before Canary III, completely disregarding Ludwig and the Pantheon, as if they were nothing more than insignificant dung.

Canary III listened silently. He knew that the man before him was a special envoy from the City of Aegis, a purple-robed bishop of the Church of War, whose status was similar to that of a cardinal of the Church of Light, second only to the High Priest.

Two days ago, the other party personally led a "volunteer priest regiment" to the main camp of the Imperial Army to assist the Imperial Army in combat.

When he learned that His Majesty the Emperor had recently been paying close attention to a "minor sect" that was only somewhat famous within the Kingdom of Duran, he was quite dismissive, and his contempt was undisguised.

King Canary III understood why the envoy had so disparaged the Pantheon, but he did not point it out directly. In his view, the envoy's evaluation was not entirely unreliable. Based on the intelligence gathered from various parties, this Rudd's strength was at least equivalent to that of an archbishop, making him a top-tier spellcaster. Otherwise, the Three-Person Tower and the Holy Church of Light would not have given him such a high evaluation.

But Bourne is a top-tier legendary assassin. He might not be a match for a spellcaster of the same level in a head-on confrontation, but he might be able to outmaneuver them in a sneak attack.

However, just when he thought he would be able to see Lud in person by the next day or the day after at the latest, a commotion suddenly came from outside the military tent. A slightly immature dragon's roar made Grand Marshal Jagger suffer from PTSD and he made a move to put on a scarf to cover his face.

The emperor frowned and looked at the special envoy of the God of War Sect beside him.

"Sir Nick, didn't you say that with you involved, those dragons wouldn't interfere with our army's operations anymore?"

"Uh... is he new here?"

Before the people inside the tent could figure out what was going on, a guard suddenly rushed in, or more accurately, flew in backwards from the outside in an extremely exaggerated manner, and landed with a thud at the emperor's feet. Although he didn't die on the spot, he was groaning in pain.

Upon seeing this, Marshal Jagger quickly drew his sword and, along with several other generals present, stood guard around Canary III, leaving the envoy of the Church of War alone, which made him somewhat embarrassed.

At this moment, the curtain outside the tent was lifted, and a young priest in a white robe walked in. The robe was simple but spotless, a stark contrast to the envoy's ornate attire.

The young priest looked around, his gaze finally settling on the emperor, who was being protected in the center by his generals. He then introduced himself with a smile.

"I am the priest Lud, whom you are looking for. It is a pleasure to meet you. Please take care of me."

Upon learning that the white-robed priest before them was Lud of the Pantheon, the expressions of everyone on the Empire's side became quite interesting. Especially the envoy from the Cult of War, who had just belittled Lud, only to have him immediately come knocking, creating an extremely awkward situation.

The empire's generals were on high alert. They didn't know exactly how strong this person was, but anyone who dared to storm their camp alone and remain so calm was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Only the emperor of the empire remained calm and composed. He knew in his heart that since Lud had come to their door so directly, it was probably because Byrne had made a mistake.

"Generals, put down your swords and do not neglect our distinguished guests."

"Haha! I've become a distinguished guest? Do you Imperials really consider this land beneath your feet your own?"

"..."

King Canary III was speechless for a long time after being retorted by Rudd's words. At this moment, the special envoy finally mustered up his courage and stood up again. He thought to himself that he was, after all, a purple-robed member of the Cult of the God of War, with the God of War, the Heavenly Madness, backing him up. Did you, a mere Pantheon, dare to oppose the God of War?

“Master Lud, I am…”

"Shut up! I have no interest in knowing who you are."

"you……"

"If you dare utter another word from that lousy mouth of yours, I'll rip your skull off like a jellyfish! I mean it!"

"..."

Faced with Lud's contemptuous threat, the envoy's face turned purple, but he opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, like a dehydrated fish, and in the end, he didn't dare to say a single word.

Looking at the blustering but cowardly-looking man in purple robes, Lu De sneered inwardly.

Your Heavenly Mad War God is awesome, an eighth-tier high god, stronger than more than a dozen gods in my Pantheon combined. But the three gods restrain each other, so he can't just casually come to the mortal realm, much less stand up for a spineless coward.

The God of War's character is actually quite easy to understand, so when Rude saw that the purple-robed man had already shown fear, he knew that this guy could not pose a threat to him.

Ignoring the envoy, Rudd looked at Canary III, a middle-aged man in his early forties with fiery red hair. In addition, his eyes were very similar to Romian's, and they did indeed look like father and daughter.

Prior to this, Lud had no intention of having any contact with the Empire. Although they were indeed more advanced than the Kingdom of Duran, it was difficult for Lud, a Chinese, to have any goodwill towards this militaristic and aggressive country.

Under the emperor's command, the generals had sheathed their swords, but remained vigilantly guarding Canary III. Grand Marshal Jagger, hearing the commotion outside but seeing no soldiers rush in, was puzzled. What was happening outside? Could it be related to the dragon's roar he had just heard?

Unbeknownst to the Grand Marshal, outside the military tent, thousands of fully armed soldiers of the Imperial Legion were tensely confronting a white-haired little girl. A group of burly soldiers trembled, while the seemingly delicate and adorable little girl squatted alone at the tent entrance, leisurely munching on sunflower seeds.

This scene can be described as a "world-famous painting".

Inside the military tent, Lud requested a private conversation with the Emperor, ordering all other unauthorized personnel to leave. The Grand Marshal immediately objected, to which Lud responded with a dismissive look.

“If I really wanted to kill him, it wouldn’t matter whether you were here or not.”

In the end, it was Canary III who made the decision, allowing the others to leave first, while he himself was willing to speak with Master Rudd alone.

After everyone else had left, the two men in the tent sat down at opposite ends of the conference table. After a moment of contemplation, Ludwig got straight to the point and spoke to Canary.

"I've captured that dark elf under your command."

"Bourne? I didn't expect someone with his strength to be captured. It seems the master's strength is indeed unfathomable."

"No need to flatter me. If I wasn't afraid of hurting Romian's feelings, I would have killed that guy long ago."

"Wait a minute! Master, who did you just say? Romi'an!?"

"Yes, Romian, a half-human dragon girl with fiery red hair. Her mother is named Liana, her father is named Adrian, and she is now my disciple, an excellent priest of my Pantheon."

The bombshell news that Ludwig suddenly revealed shocked Canary III, while Ludwig secretly observed the changes in the other man's expression, analyzing his psychological state from a police officer's professional perspective.

Rudd wouldn't simply believe Canary III's innocence based on Byrne's account; he needed to verify the truth himself. If it was true that Canary III truly loved Leanna and her daughter and was indeed a ruthless assassin sent by the Vizier, then he should tell Romian's biological father that she was safe and sound.

However, if Canary III's reaction is inappropriate, and he displays other reactions such as panic in addition to shock, then Rudd will have to have a serious talk with this emperor.

Fortunately, Canary III's reaction was correct. After a brief moment of shock, he immediately got up and came to Ludwig. This man, who had remained calm throughout, was no longer composed and composed. He was as excited as if he had just learned that his most treasured possession had been recovered.

"Master, is Romian alright? And what about Liana? Where are they now? Could you... could you take me to see them?"

After observing carefully for a moment, Lude nodded to himself. It seemed that Bourne was indeed telling the truth when he said he knew nothing about the matter.

"I'm sorry, I can't let you see her yet, at least not now."

"Why!? I'm her father, I..."

When he saw that Rudd refused to let him see his daughter, Canary III became agitated and raised his voice several times. However, he quickly stopped talking because he noticed that Rudd's expression was full of pity.

“Before meeting me, that child suffered a lot, witnessing her mother die tragically while protecting her. The murderers who wanted to kill them were your loyal followers. I came here today just to see for myself what kind of person you really are. Are you pathetic or hateful? It seems to be the former. So I will not kill you, but I will never let Romian go with you. That child is safer with me.”

"Master, what do you mean? Why did my subjects kill my wife and daughters? They...they..."

"Hehe, with your intelligence, you can't possibly not understand why. This is the first thing I've come here to do today. Next, I'll talk about the second thing: I want to make a deal with you."

"A deal? With my daughter!?"

"You're overthinking it. Romian is my most prized disciple, like family to me, and I would never use family as a bargaining chip."

"Then what will you use for the transaction?"

"Your Second Army Corps... the remnants."

When Rudd came to see Canary III, the Empire’s Second Army Corps had been bombarded for almost nine days, and Rudd had ordered the artillery to reduce its attack intensity and stop carrying out large-scale fire coverage two days earlier.

The reason Lud showed mercy was not because he felt sorry for the imperial invaders, but because he considered that the Second Army Corps had been rendered incapable of fighting and that they might soon face the main imperial force consisting of three army corps. Therefore, he stockpiled some ammunition in advance.

The Allied artillery had been firing with great enthusiasm, but the ammunition consumption was also high. Forty cannons had to fire thousands of shells every day, while when they set out from the northern border, each cannon had less than two hundred rounds of ammunition. These days, they have been able to maintain their offensive only by having the Dragon Clan couriers constantly deliver ammunition to them from the rear.

The arsenal at the rear is currently limited in production capacity due to the supply of raw materials. Propellant requires certain enchanted minerals, so the daily production capacity of shells is temporarily limited to about 1,000 to 1,500 rounds.

The Steelwhip Clan dwarves have already begun to expand their production capacity. Their prospectors, inspired by the goddess, have indeed discovered a relatively rich ore vein nearby, but it will take time to mine and process the ore.

So Ludwig, who originally intended to completely annihilate the Second Legion, called off the large-scale artillery bombardment and only used sporadic artillery fire to bombard the enemy camp, keeping them in constant turmoil. He then went alone to meet Canary III and made a deal with him using the remaining remnants of the Second Legion that he had already annihilated.